Longtime Cedar Falls Mayor Jon Crews Dies

The longest serving mayor in the history of Cedar Falls, Jon Crews, has died. He passed away Thursday after a bout with liver cancer over the past several months.

Crews held public office most of his adult life. He was mayor for a total of 30 years, serving three separate terms. In an interview with IPR shortly before his retirement in 2015, he reflected on his years of public service.

"There's no perfect job, but I really liked this one. I always said I was either lucky, blessed or guilty. Guilty because we had such a low crime rate and the unemployment rate in even the recession was under four percent," he said.

Crews served four years on the city council and one year as Black Hawk County treasurer. He was one of the youngest mayors in the nation when he was elected at the age of 24 in 1971. A memorial service will be held Monday afternoon at Orchard Hills Church in Cedar Falls. Jon Crews was 70 years old.